Corset-stay



(No Model.)

W. A. NETTLETON.

CORSET STAY.

Patented June 16, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

VILLIAM A.. NETTLETON, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

CO RSET-STAY.

PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,162, dated June 16, 1885.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM A. N ETTLE- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corset-Stays; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the manufacture of corsets; and it has for its object to produce a stiffener or stay which shall be durable and inexpensive, and which will be held in place by the stitching on of the binding, and without flossing or additional stitching.

Heretofore in the manufacture of corsets it has been common to employ stays consisting of strips of steel covered with cloth or paper which is usually pasted about the steel and covered at the ends with metallic caps. It is of course understood that it is impracticable in the manufacture of corsets to use strong stays as long as the corset itself, as it would be impossible to stitch on the binding or lace, or whatever trimlning might be used, if the stays extended to the edges unless they were of very light material, such as the needle suitable for stitching on binding and lace would easily pierce. rlhis has left the stays free to work up and down in the pockets unless stayed by flossing or in some similar manner, which is an additional operation that adds to the cost of production. Moreover, it has been found in use that even when stayed by flossing the caps will frequently slip off the ends of the stays, and the rough ends of the strips of steel will. wear holes entirely through the fabric of the corset.

In order to obviate the above objections and to produce a stay which shall be more durable than any of the class now in use, less eX- pensive than the capped stays, and which shall be firmly held in place by the ordinary stitching necessary in the manufacture of the corset, I have devised the simple and novel stay and method of securing the same in place which I will now describe, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a section of a corset, the part shown being the back of the right half; Fig. 2, a similar elevation, with the outer ply of the corset removed, also a portion of the covering of the steels, leaving the edges of the plies of covering material in section; Fig. 3, a erosssection of both plies, as in Fig. l, showing the steels and the covering material; and Fig. 4, a View on an enlarged scale, partly in section, of my improved stay detached.

I have shown the back of a corset only, but it will be understood that my invention is equally applicable to any of the stays used in the manufacture of the corset without regard to location or the number used.

A is the outer ply of a corset, and B the inner ply.

C represents steels, which I cover with a sheathing consisting of one or inorelayers, D, of cloth or paper, the essential feature of my invention being that the layers of covering material extend beyond the ends of the steels, forming portions E, for the purpose about to be described.

The material of the cover forms no portion of my present invention. I have used both paper and cloth with satisfactory results; have also used cloth-lined collar-paper, also an inner layer of paper with a covering of cloth, the sole requirement being that the covering material or sheathing be of sufficient strength not to be ruined by perspiration. The layers of covering material are preferably pasted to each other, and may or may not be pasted to the steel. At the ends of the steels the layers of covering material are so pasted as to adhere firmly to each other, thus holding the steels firmly, and rendering it impossible for them to slip up or down inthe pockets, or for the ends to wear through the material of the corset. After the stays are either stitched or run into the pockets F the ends of portions E are trimmed off, in the usual way, even with the two plies of the corset. The corset is then bound in the ordinary manner at top and bottom, as at G. The stitches in seams H,Which pass through the portions E of the stays,are thus made to perform the addition al function oi'securing the stays in place.

I represents a strip of lace or other trimming, which may or may not be stitched on at the top of the corset. When this trim- ICO ming is used, the seam K, by which it is secured 1n place, also passes through the portions E of the stays,thus serving additionally to hold them in place.

It is obvious that the construction I have shown may be Varied Within reasonable limits wlthont departing from the spirit of my invention, and that strips of brass, whalebone, or other suitable material may be substituted for the steels, if preferred, that being a matter Wholly within thejudgment of the manufacturer.

I claim- 1. The combination, 'with a corset having pockets for stays and binding at top and bottom, of stays shorter than the pockets, one or morev layers of covering material 'forming a sheathing which extends beyond the stays to the top and bottom of the corset, and seams at top and bottom,whieh pass through the corset, the binding, and the sheathing.

2. The combination, With the pockets, of strips of steel coveredwith one or more layers of material, D, pasted together and extending beyond the steels at the ends, forming p0rtions E,and seams H at the top and bottom of the corset, which secure the binding in place and pass through portions E of the covering material whereby, the stays are secured in place Without flossing or additional stitching.

In testimony whereof I affixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM A. NETTLETON.

Vitnesses:

A. M. WoosrER, A. B. FAIRCHILD. 

